Dublin Coffman's Carrico Has Michigan High

Christopher Smith

01/19/2010

The Dublin Coffman (OH) defensive end and offensive tackle was invited to Michigan's recent junior day, and had the Wolverines secure themselves high on his list of choices. GoBlueWolverine caught up with Carrico to get the latest about his Ann Arbor experience.

Brad Carrico, the 6'6" 255 pound offensive tackle from Dublin Coffman (OH) was in Ann Arbor over the weekend to take in the Wolverines' first junior day for the class of 2011.

Carrico came away extremely impressed with his first visit to Ann Arbor.

"Going to Michigan was a real good experience, going up there and seeing the campus and everything," Carrico told GoBlueWolverine. "When I went up, I got a good taste of how everything was, how the coaching staff was. I really enjoyed my time up there, and it was a really good experience going up there."

One of the many aspects that had Carrico buzzing was the phenomenal atmosphere within Crisler Arena on Sunday afternoon.

"It was crazy in there," he said. "It was really loud in there for the whole game for the most part. It was real
fun, and everyone was into it, and most of the recruits got into it too. Brandon Graham was sitting with us, and he was getting all of us into it and starting chants with us. It was fun. The atmosphere there was real good, and I'm sure it's like that for
football games too. So I'm excited to make it up there for a football game sometime also."

While the coaches will certainly pursue getting Carrico to visit Ann Arbor during the season, their immediate thoughts are much closer in the future.

"They didn't really talk about the season as much as they did about how they want to get me up for a camp and maybe another junior day coming up here in another month or two. They didn't really bring up games as much as they did about camps."

Carrico spent most of his time with Michigan's main Ohio recruiter, defensive line coach Bruce Tall, but also got to spend a little time with the headman himself.

"Coach Tall gave me a real good impression, and he told me just to relax and he's working on getting me an offer and he's talking to the whole coaching staff about it. I got a real good impression from him and he's a really nice guy and he's pretty funny. Coach Rodriguez really just said about the same thing. It was nice meeting him and we made small talk. Most of the basketball game I talked to Coach Tall, and he used to live in Ohio so we talked about that."

Carrico also got to take in the city and campus for the first time, and it's clear that those will have a big effect as to where
Carrico will choose to attend school.

"That really means a lot, the athletic stuff is really important, but the school is just as important, as well as the campus and the
lifestyle and the people. That's who you're going to be going to school with and it's really important to know the people
are nice and welcoming. I'm not a big fan of a huge spread out campus, which wasn't Michigan at all, and I really liked that about Michigan. It means alot to be able to see the campus and know it's not like that."

Carrico got to bring along his father, which as any recruitnik knows is a big portion of the process. Carrico's father came away
just as impressed as his son did on his first visit to the University.

"He's never been up there either, and he was real impressed also. Everything there was real nice. We didn't know what to expect out of it, but we just heard a lot of great things about it. Everything was within walking distance and everything we heard was true. My dad loved it, not only the campus, but also the football facilities. The football facilities at Schembechler were
the nicest I've seen. The weight room had a lot of neat things I've never seen and a lot of cool equipment. The indoor facility (Al Glick Fieldhouse)… I've never seen anything like it. I really like all the facilities."

The strong unofficial visit to Ann Arbor has vaulted the Wolverines into a very strong position with Carrico. While they don't hold the top spot, an official scholarship could change that tune quickly.

"Michigan is definitely in the running. Notre Dame is still number one, but that's because they've offered me. But I haven't made it out there. I just know the coaching staff at Notre Dame better, but I'd definitely put Michigan at number two and West Virginia
three. I like Michigan a lot, I just can't wait to get back up there again and camp. The more time you go up there and meet the coaches, the higher it's going to move up more and more. We'll see how many more times I can get back up there, but I definitely like Michigan and I'm thinking about them."